Oh, unhappy cat.

So, I took Morph to the vet yesterday to check on the sneezing snottiness, and he's been tentatively diagnosed with an upper respiratory tract infection, with possible eye and ear involvement. So, for the next week the poor boy gets eye drops, ear drops, and oral antibiotics multiple times a day. He is not thrilled. I am not thrilled at trying to manage this in the mornings when I've just woken up, either.

The Corporation is long (2 1/2 hours), but remarkably funny, given how depressing the material is, and well worth seeing. Prepare to be pissed off over and over again, though.

And I'm having some truly weird dreams; mish-mashes of the Fionavar Tapestry trilogy (which I just finished), and Clive Barker's Weaveworld, which I just started. All very questy. Much searching for things.

I'm very glad I motivated to get to class last night, though (I was home and comfy, and really tempted not to). We're finally actually doing something in lab, wonder of all wonders! Last semester it was utterly pointless; some half-assed overheads, and our TA mispronouncing things at us. Anything I actually learned in relation to the class, I learned on my own time. This semester, we've got a different TA, which is making a good deal of difference (he's got some annoying quirks, like trying to spark class participation by implying that we're idiots if we don't know the answer, but overall, he's still a major improvement). And, we're finally actually doing labs. Hands on, actually doing stuff. Finally. Last semester, the closest we got to that was looking at a few bones and some plastic models, and one attempt at observing muscle contraction upon exposure to ATP, which failed due to ancient and useless solutions. This semester, we're apparently finally doing actual dissection (I'd given up hope of anything so relevant). Last night was sheep hearts, and we're starting on fetal pigs within the next week or two. Oh, and I was kind of flattered -- apparently my prof is sending other students to me for notes and help and such. I like doing that sort of thing, so I'm pleased.

Oh, damn. Just got a call to patient-instruct tonight. I was so hoping for an early night (Mon, Tues, Thurs are all already late nights this week, between counseling and class).

And in the online pharmacy saga, I've gone from irritated to livid. The "executive" helpline that I was transferred to, after the main customer support was useless, hasn't returned a single call. I've left five messages since Friday, on a voicemail that says "we'll call you back within an hour during business hours". And I just discovered that they took the credit card number I'd given them for the $40 order I placed, and charged the order they filled without my permission on it, also without my permission (they did this after I'd already received the meds and bill for $300, so it wasn't even an automatic "use whatever card's in the system", since that card number wasn't in the system when they put through the unrequested order). $300 credit card charge, without my authorization. The last message I left said "My next call is to the Better Business Bureau". And I'm really lucky that this didn't fuck me the way it could've. If they'd still had my regular CC number, which pulls from my bank account, (instead of my FlexPay card), my rent would've bounced. Fu-Ri-Ous.

Brilliant. Just brilliant.

Because it's fun to make sure that sexually active adolescents avoid any and all appropriate medical care (10th Circuit Court Lifts Temporary Injunction Against Kansas Requirement That Doctors, Counselors Report Sexual Activity Among Minors; Federal Trial Begins)

Yes. All sexual activity. Anyone under 16, even if it's with another youth.

"The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a suit against Kline's opinion on behalf of medical and counseling professionals in the state, saying that the requirement could prevent some girls from seeking medical attention."

Gee. Ya think?

Not that anyone seems to have any reproductive rights in Kansas anyway. Who remembers the Kansas AG's fishing expeditions for full, unredacted, medical records of women who'd had abortions?

Miracle of all miracles!

(and thanks to an especially helpful CSR named Janetta)

They're sending me a mailing tag to return the meds I didn't want, and they'll credit my card once they're received.

Frankly, I'm shocked.

younger, but reminiscent.

The Cuddle Puddle of Stuyvesant High School (linked ganked from harperjean)

This does remind me a good deal of certain aspects of college (quite a number of them very pleasant memories). And, frankly, although plenty of people get annoyed about the whole "experimentation" thing, as if it invalidates stable queer identities, I'm quite happy about it. A world where people can explore and figure out their own sexualities without huge horrible penalties just doesn't sound like a bad thing to me. Yeah, sometimes it's an image, sometimes it's "just for show", sometimes these folks get the benefits and fun of queerness without "suffering" for it (is that why we fight against homophobia? So we can guilt people for not suffering what we're trying to prevent them from suffering? Does that seem backward to anyone else?) sometimes people who are definitely queer get hurt falling for people who are still sorting it out (oh, been there, done that). So what? Identities are creations. They don't come to us fully formed; we have to figure out which ones fit, and how to tailor them to ourselves.

And, honestly, I think that even those kids who end up straight as arrows will have benefits from their explorations, and so will our society. They might be a little less likely to demonize queer folk, vote for marriage bans, and generally do other nasty stuff that's all based in lack of comprehension/empathy/compassion.